A Little Trouble
by Crystallea1321
Summary: It started out like any other day for Thomas Raith, white court vampire. He got up, went to work, came home to a giant dog and toddler-wait giant dog and toddler? So maybe not such an ordinary day, after all most days don't involve your little brother being turned into a toddler. How had that happened? And how on earth did Marcone fit into any of this? Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

A/N- So, this is my birthday present to a friend. Merry Belated Birthday, dear! I love you! I thought I'd post this since it is a fanfic and then when I get more chapters done she can read them immediately, and everyone else can enjoy what will hopefully be a good story. I hope you enjoy it. I would like to point out that I do not own Dresden Files, just my plot. And that I am not trying to steal anyone else's ideas. This is set just before Winter Knight. Anyways, on to the chapter! Enjoy!

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Chapter One

Today was not your average day, even by Harry Dresden standards and I'm not Harry. Honestly, every time I get embroiled in something involving my brother, life goes screwy. Last time this happened I wound up storming Arctis Tor, the stronghold of the winter court of Faery. He's listed as the only wizard in the yellow pages and he isn't lying, which is why he can throw fireballs around and rip open ways into the Nevernever. Yeah, my family is messed up. Although, considering that I'm a vampire of the white court with my own personal demon inside me, I really shouldn't be pointing fingers, especially since my little brother is probably the most upright and honorable person I know. Of course, he's also a complete sucker when it comes to women in apparent trouble but I can't decide whether that makes him an even better person or an idiot.

So when I say that today was not an average day, I mean today wasn't an average day for a consulting wizard, and his vampire half-brother, which means it was a seriously messed up day, even if it didn't start like one.

I started my day like usual. Got up, got dressed and headed off to work. I'm a hairstylist. Don't laugh. I own an expensive, trendy hair salon and everyone there thinks I'm gay and French, which couldn't be farther from the truth.

I am, in actuality, a vampire of the white court; which means I feed off of people's life force. Usually when we feed, we do it through intercourse, but we don't have to. What we need is intimacy and sex just happens to be the most intimate a person can get with another, but there are other ways to go about it. While I work I take little sips off the women whose hair I cut. It don't take enough to hurt them, just enough to keep my Hunger sated. It's the best solution I can find at the moment.

I got off work at around five and headed home to my apartment. As the cab pulled up in front of my building, I saw a familiar mound of gray fur sitting next to the door.

Mouse is Harry's giant of a dog. He's supposedly a temple dog, but I often wonder if he doesn't have some wooly mammoth in him, he's so huge. Mouse is not really an appropriate name for this dog but to be fair when Harry named him, he was still a puppy and not nearly that big. Mouse is usually one of the sweetest animals in the world unless you threaten those he feels are under his protection, then you may want to run. I've been around him when he get's mad. I've seen him take down some pretty nasty creatures, things out of nightmares. He is a force to be reckoned with.

And I'd never seen him go anywhere without Harry or someone Harry wanted him to guard. I glanced around, expecting to see the towering form of my brother leaning against a wall, attempting to be inconspicuous in that ridiculous coat he always wears.

I didn't see him. The only one waiting outside my building was the furry mastodon. I frowned and walked up to mouse. "Hey, boy, where's Harry?"

There was a squeal of glee and I heard the sound of something getting up from behind the pooch. I tensed expecting trouble; all I got was a sudden weight against one of my legs. I looked down to find a small child wrapped around my knee. I stared in perplexity down at the dark haired head that was buried in my thigh. "Ummm…"

I wasn't sure what to do. I haven't really spent much time around kids. I'm a succubus; we don't really do kids. I gave Mouse a pleading look.

He chuffed, got up and nudged the kid in the side with his nose. The little runt giggled and let go of my leg so he could push Mouse's inquisitive nose away from his sensitive side. "Mouse, stop it!"

I frowned down at the kid. He looked like he was maybe three or four. He had big chubby cheeks, a shock of unruly dark brown hair, and mischievous dark eyes that looked up at me merrily. He was maybe two feet tall at the most and was a pretty cute kid. The black shirt he was wearing went almost to his ankles and hung off one shoulder. I wasn't sure how it was staying on him in the first place. At the moment, he was grinning happily up at me as he hugged Mouse. I didn't get why the kid was so happy to see me, but it didn't really matter, I just wanted to figure out whom this kid belonged to.

I knelt down and tried to smile in a nonthreatening, non-flirtatious manner. "Hey, where are your parents?"

The little boy's eyes suddenly stopped looking mischievous and turned sad. I have absolutely no idea how he managed it but one moment he looked like this adorable, happy little kid, the next he looked like a kicked puppy. "They died." He said quietly.

I nodded thoughtfully. That would explain Mouse. He was probably protecting him, while Harry went off in search of whatever had done in this kid's parents. The question was why Mouse had shown up here. Did Harry want me to look out for the kid? But then why didn't he call, or send a note or something? And why would he pick me anyways, wouldn't Lieutenant Murphy be a better pick for a kid? None of this made sense.

I sighed and looked at Mouse again. "Where's Harry? Does he want me to take care of this kid?" I knew asking was sort of pointless but I figured I could try. The dog was smarter than he appeared to be, after all.

"I'm right here!" the little boy chirped happily, throwing his arms around my knee again.

I flinched back, not expecting the sudden physical contact. The little boy seemed to sense my discomfort and he pulled back his face a mask of hurt and sorrow. "I'm sorry, brother." He looked like he was about to cry and his high pitched voice wobbled dangerously on that last word.

Brother.

He had called me brother.

And he responded to the name Harry.

No way. There was no freaking way that this cute, TINY, little kid could be my TALL, lanky, thirty-some little brother. I stared at him harder for a moment. He had that same dark unruly hair, and those were the same deep brown eyes, eyes that would get a decidedly impish glint to them when he was mouthing off. But it couldn't be. I mean, Harry was in his early thirties and this child was no older than five. So far as I know, there aren't any magical spells that can turn you into a child, right?

My mind flashed to the fountain of youth, but how on earth would Harry get a hold of some of that, and why would he drink it? I shook my head and looked at the kid again and noticed a thin silver chain hanging around his neck and falling into his overly large t-shirt.

I sucked in a breath of air and reached out with a trembling hand to pull the necklace out of his shirt. The boy looked at me with large trusting eyes. My fingers hooked the thin chain and pulled out a familiar silver pentacle identical to the one I wore around my neck. The only other one out there belonged to Harry Dresden, my half-brother.

My little brother had somehow been turned into a child.

I looked around hurriedly, but couldn't see anyone watching me. I scooped Harry up and hurried into my apartment building, Mouse right on my heels.

Like I said before, this was a weird day, even by Dresden standards.

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A/N- Well, any good? Did I get Thomas's voice right, because I keep feeling like Harry is trying to weasel in and use his voice instead, which is not okay. Please review and tell me what I can do to fix it, thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- So, new chapter! Exciting isn't it? Sorry, it took so long, I was having difficulties finding time to edit and then I couldn't get this stupid site to load, so you almost had to wait until tomorrow or whenever the next time I remembered to do this popped up. Sorry. I really did mean to get this out sooner. Ah, well. Also, thanks for the amazing reviews! I was so shocked, and happy. I went around telling everyone I knew that I had this many reviews. They made my day, so thank you. Also, if someone does want to do fan art, I would love that. I may do some of my own but I'm not sure yet. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dresden Files, that is the property of Jim Butcher, the amazing and talented author. This is nonprofit and purely to make people happy, so please don't sue me.

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Chapter 2

When I made it up to my apartment, I set Harry down on my nice, leather couch and kneeled in front of him. "Harry, what happened to you? Can you remember?" I asked seriously, staring into those big, puppy eyes.

"I don't know… I was looking for," he frowned seriously as if trying to remember something important. "…something. I can't remember. I was looking for something and then it's fuzzy. There was lots of noise and pain." His little face contorted and he looked like he was going to start bawling.

"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to remember if it's too hard. How about we try something else, okay?" I asked soothingly. I couldn't bear to see the little guy cry. Even if he didn't look like him, he was still my little brother, and I would do my darndest to make sure Harry was happy. Whether he was a little kid or not, he was still family, and that was all that mattered.

Harry nodded slowly, his face unknotting slightly. "Okay."

"Alright, how about you tell me what you remember of the time before you became this size?" I asked, poking him in the stomach. He grinned slightly and pushed my hand away. I sighed in relief that the worried, scared look had left his eyes. Little kids just shouldn't look like that.

"I remember you and Mouse and Murphy and Michael and Molly and Bob. I remember that Momma died and so did my daddy. I know I'm a professional wizard." He said the word professional slowly as if sounding the big word out to make sure he was pronouncing it correctly. "I know I help people and can do magic and that you're a vampire, but that you're a good vampire and you're my only family. I know I love you."

I stared at him for a moment. I had known that Harry loved me; the same as I loved him, but it was a bit of a shock to hear it said that plainly. We weren't exactly the most expressive of family members. We had never felt the need to really articulate that. Yeah, we would hug or save each other's butts, but we didn't really say, "I love you." It just wasn't us. I had never thought I needed to hear it, so I was surprised how good it felt to actually hear it spoken aloud.

I swallowed thickly and blinked several times. I was not going to cry. My throat was just dry and I had something in my eye, both eyes. "Love you too, Harry."

The little boy leaned forward and threw his arms around me, planting a rather wet kiss on my cheek.

I snorted and hugged him back for a second before I disentangled his little hands from around my neck and set him back down on the couch. "Alright, enough of the mushy stuff. Do you remember what you were working on before you," I paused searching for the right word, "changed?"

"I was supposed to look for something, something important. A man I don't like hired me to do it. He said it was really important, but I can't remember why. It's kind of fuzzy. Everything is. Why does everything that happened before I got small feel fuzzy? What happened to me?" He looked up at me pleadingly, as if he expected me to have all the answers and solve all his problems.

I desperately wished I could. That's what the older brother is supposed to do. But I also knew that there were plenty of things I couldn't do for Harry, plenty of things he normally wouldn't want me to do. Usually I let Harry handle his own problems. He was a big boy and could clean up his own messes. I would help him if he needed or wanted it. I was always willing to be his back up, but I also knew that he would be mine. I would often rely on him for help. He was my go-to for magical help. This time was different, though. Harry wasn't a big boy. He had the body and, apparently, the mind of a four year old. I had to look after him and try to turn him back to normal without his help.

I realized suddenly that I would have to do this without letting any of his enemies figure out what had happened to him. If they got ahold of him in this form, I didn't want to think about what they would do to him.

"Harry, how long have you been like this?"

"Um, not sure. I had just eaten lunch." It was about five now and while Harry sometimes at late, I suspected he had probably been a kid for at least three hours. He looked up at me questioningly. "Do you know what happened to me?"

He just wouldn't quit, would he?

I shook my head sadly, hating to let the kid down. "No, I don't, but I'm going to find out. When I do, I'll get you back to normal. I promise."

I would get him back to normal, even if it killed me.

"Harry, I need you to try to tell me as much as you can about the case you were working on before you changed, okay?" I asked. I needed information if I was going to be able to figure out what had happened to him. I would start with this case.

"Um, I was working for a guy I don't like. He wanted me to find something. It would be dangerous if the wrong people got it. I was going to find it and destroy it, but I can't remember what it was." Harry looked up at me in distress. He wanted to remember but couldn't, and it was scaring him.

Frankly, it scared me a little, too.

I took a deep breath and then said, "That's fine. Can you tell me who hired you to find it?"

"Ummm, Johnny?" He frowned in concentration. Although I could already guess the last name, I let him continue, because I was hoping it wasn't- "Johnny Marcone, I think."

Crap.

I sucked in a sharp breath. Even though I had been pretty sure of whom it was; I'd still hoped it wasn't him. Gentleman Johnny Marcone was the crime boss of Chicago. He ran almost all of the criminal activity in the city and was a very dangerous man. Harry really didn't get along well with him. Harry didn't work well with a lot of people, but he loathed Marcone. I was fairly certain the only reason Marcone was still alive was because Harry didn't kill humans, otherwise I suspected that Marcone would have died long ago. So if my brother had felt that finding this object was important enough to work with Marcone, then it was big, as in possible end of the world big.

I felt a cold knot of dread growing in my stomach, and I instinctively reached out to draw power from my Hunger. I stopped when I felt a little hand wrap around one of mine. "It's okay. Marcone likes kids, so I won't let him hurt you."

I blinked and glanced down at Harry realizing he had noticed my fear but had thought it was because I was afraid of Marcone, not because of what it meant for Harry to work with Marcone. I couldn't help but smile at Harry's assurance of his protecting me; it was ridiculous- wait, had he just said that Marcone liked kids?

"What do you mean Harry?"

"Marcone likes kids. He doesn't let other people mess with us. People get dead if they do. So, he would listen if I asked him to leave you alone, right?" Harry looked up at me innocently, an almost defiant look on his face.

I had to stifle a laugh at his childish logic. It was so ridiculously simple that it was adorable. He could be so very simple sometimes, even as an adult he was like that, too. "I'm not sure it would work that way but thanks for the support. Can you remember anything else about what was going on?"

"Um, I think little kids were disappearing. That's why Marcone got involved. He wanted me to find the thing that was making the kids disappear and get rid of it. That's why I decided to help him." Harry explained seriously.

I couldn't help but find his intense concentration rather adorable for a four-year-old.

His cuteness was not, however, the main issue. What had turned him into this new, tiny version of Harry was, and it had been stealing kids. Which would explain why Harry would work with Marcone. Harry would go to great lengths for a kid in danger. Of course, now he was the child in danger.

I ran a hand distractedly through my hair. "Was the thing you were looking for an object or some type of creature?"

"I-" he furrowed his brow, pausing for a moment. "Both? I can't remember." He shook his head in confusion.

"What do you mean both? How can you be looking for something that's both an object and a creature?" I asked incredulously.

"I don't know. It doesn't make sense in my head. It's all blurry and confusing. I don't understand anything!" Harry's eyes were starting to tear up and his expression was anguished and confused. He buried his head in his hands, shaking slightly with repressed sobs.

Pain and helplessness stirred in my chest at the grief my brother was experiencing. I didn't think about what I did, I just pulled the little child close and hugged him, rocking slightly on my heels. I murmured quiet words of comfort in to his dark hair. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here, and we'll figure this out, okay? Come on, it's okay. I love you, Harry. Calm down. It's okay. It's going to be okay." Over and over again, until his quiet sobs calmed down and he lay exhausted against me.

"Better?" I asked, looking down at him.

He pulled his head back, looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes. Snot had caked and dried around his nose, but he smiled and nodded.

I couldn't help but snort at how much of a mess he was. "Come on, let's go clean you up."

I picked him up and carried him into the bathroom, which was a complete mess, unlike the front of my apartment, which was spotless. The front was a ruse. It was meant to look like a typical gay lived there. I am actually an extremely messy person as Harry can attest to. So unsurprisingly, the part of the apartment that wasn't up for public inspection was a pigsty; my bathroom was no exception.

I used my free hand to clear a free space in the debris on the bathroom counter for Harry to sit. The boy looked around in wonder for a moment and then giggled.

I arched an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"The bathroom looks like a tornado hit it."

I frowned at him. Even as a kid, he was still giving me crap about how I lived. Honestly, just because he was a neat freak did not mean that he got to degrade my organized mess. I liked it.

I decided to ignore that comment and instead started searching for some Kleenex. Harry watched me from his perch on the counter with amusement. I could see him from the corner of my eye stifling his laughter. My frown turned into a glower, which only made him actually start laughing. I growled something under my breath that was not suitable for innocent ears and turned away.

After I had found the Kleenex under one of my used towels, I cleaned up Harry's face and got him situated on the couch in front of the TV. I prayed to all that is holy that his magic had regressed as well, so my electronics would not suddenly fry when he got excited. I hesitantly switched on the TV and when the remote didn't spark and the screen actually lit up, I sighed in relief. I started flipping through channels until I found one that had a Spiderman cartoon on. Harry literally clapped in delight and stared in fascination at the screen. A wide grin plastered onto his face as he watched in rapture.

"I'm going to make a few phone calls, will you be alright by yourself for a bit?" I asked, leaning down next to him.

He nodded absently and I'm not sure that he actually understood what I said but I decided it was safe to leave for a bit.

I flipped open my cell phone as I walked into my bedroom, also a mess, and sat down on my unmade bed. The first person I called was Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, a friend of Harry's and unofficial head of the Chicago PD's special investigations department. SI handled things that couldn't be easily explained by vanilla mortals, such as troll attacks, red court killings, and any other supernatural activity. A lot of their reports were complete lies. Murphy hired Harry as a consultant and that was part of the reason why she had lasted so long on the job. She was also one of Harry's closest friends, although I still don't know why they haven't hooked up yet. She knew that we were siblings even, which was not common knowledge. I knew Harry trusted her with his life. Which was why I was hoping she might know something about what Harry was working on.

The phone rang several times and then an irate voice said, "Lieutenant Murphy speaking."

"Hello, Lieutenant. I'm sorry to bother you." I said politely. "But I need to ask if you know what case Harry is working on?"

Murphy heaved a great sigh of displeasure. "Thomas. Why don't you just ask him?"

"That isn't an option at the moment." I said evasively. It wasn't that I didn't want Murphy to know about what happened to Harry; it was that I didn't want anyone else who might have tapped Karrin's phone to know what had happened to Harry. "I can't get a hold of him and I need to know A.S.A.P."

There was a pause on the other end of the line and then, "I can't talk about it. It's confidential."

I repressed a growl. "Can you tell me anything?"

"Sorry, no. Although, if you see Harry, tell him I'll be off at five and meet him at Mac's." Murphy said off-handedly.

My eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Why would she tell me that, unless, she wanted me to meet her there. That was very clever Miss Murphy.

"Alright, I will. Thank you for your time." I hung up the phone thoughtfully. She had seemed on edge and it was as if she didn't trust the phone lines either. The plot thickens.

I sighed and rubbed my temples.

I needed to talk to someone who would know what was going on and would be able to explain to me some of the magical ramifications of Harry's transformation. Hopefully that someone would be able to work out a way for me to get Harry back to normal.

I knew just the skull to talk to.

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A/N- So, did you like it? Is Thomas's voice any better? I am trying. Also, would anyone like a chapter from Ickle (curse you Darthbathrobe for using that word in a review and getting it stuck in my head!) Harry's point of view? I've been playing around with the idea but I haven't decided if I will or not. Please leave a review or PM me with your opinions. Of course, you could just review with your opinions in general because they make for a happy author, which makes me write and post faster. So review please? Thanks, hope you enjoyed it!


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